Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi not being shown on the state owned and controlled Indian TV made news.
The Indian Express India’s largest circulation daily reported that, “Doordarshan did the unexpected recently by not mentioning the Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi even once in its news bulletin on July 1 and 2 night. But it made up for the “lapse” by using three items about him on Monday night.
Over the weekend viewers were treated to foreign news in the time that ordinarily would have been devoted to the Prime Minister. As a result we were brought up to date on places as remote as Sudan and Greece, Even on Friday night Doordarshan did not show a visual of the Prime Minister, dismissing him in less than 30 seconds with a passing reference to an interview he gave to a Yugoslav publication.
“On Monday however, Doordarshan was back in form again, giving Gandhi two and a half minutes spread over three items. In the Hindi news he even made it to the headlines with his announcement of a public phone for each panchayat in the country.”
Gandhi’s increasing blatant misuse of the monopoly TV has been criticized by opposition leaders as well as the foreign press.
Article extracted from this publication >> August 4, 1989
